US STOCKS-Tech stocks boost S&P 500 closer to record high

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* Tesla up after announcing stock split
* Moderna jumps after $1.5-bln U.S. contract
* Benchmark S&P 500 about 0.4% below record high
* Indexes up: Dow 0.94%, S&P 1.41%, Nasdaq 2.16%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Ambar Warrick
Aug 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped on
Wednesday, with the S&P 500 crawling towards a record high in a
broad rally led by tech stocks, with investors shrugging off a
stalemate over the new coronavirus relief bill.
Heavyweights Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O and Apple Inc AAPL.O were the top boosts to the S&P
500.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors climbed, with technology
.SPLRCT , communication services .SPLRCL and utilities
.SPLRCU leading percentage gains.
The S&P 500 is about 0.4% below its intraday record high of
3,393.52. The benchmark index slipped after seven straight days
of gains on Tuesday.
"We're seeing buyers show up very quickly, any chance they
get when the market declines. To me, that's a very bullish
sign," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments
in New York.
The Nasdaq was the first of the three major indexes to
bounce back to an all-time high in June, powered by historic
fiscal and monetary stimulus and signs of a nascent economic
recovery. The Dow is about 6% below its February peak.
With a better-than-feared second-quarter earnings season
largely over, investors are preparing for the risk of a
contested U.S. presidential election in the fall. Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday picked Senator
Kamala Harris as his choice for vice president. Meanwhile, a breakdown in bipartisan talks over the next
federal aid bill to help tens of millions of Americans suffering
because of the COVID-19 pandemic entered a fifth day, with
neither side ready to resume negotiations. "While the negotiations are probably going to continue back
and forth, in an election year environment, it's very likely
that this package gets across the finish line," Matt Stucky,
portfolio manager, equities, at Northwestern Mutual Wealth
Management Co in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At 12:47 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 260.54 points, or 0.94%, at 27,947.45, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 46.84 points, or 1.41%, at 3,380.53. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 232.79 points, or 2.16%, at 11,015.61.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O jumped 10.2%, providing the biggest lift
to Nasdaq, as it announced a five-for-one stock split in an
attempt to make its shares more accessible to employees and
investors. Latest data showed U.S. consumer prices increased
more-than-expected in July, but high unemployment is likely to
keep inflation under control, allowing the Federal Reserve to
continue pumping money into the economy. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.84-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 30 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 75 new highs and 18 new lows.